Illinois has found its next coach, hiring Oklahoma State's Brad Underwood . A source told ESPN that Underwood agreed to a six-year deal worth more than $3 million per season. He earned a little more than $1 million per season at Oklahoma State and had four years remaining on his contract. Fighting Illini athletic director Josh Whitman welcomed Underwood to the program in a tweet Saturday afternoon. "In searching for a new coach, we were looking for a proven winner who would build upon our proud tradition while developing an unmistakable identity for Illinois Basketball," Whitman said in a statement. "Brad's teams play a fast, aggressive style and show unyielding toughness." The Cowboys hired Underwood a year ago, and he took the program to the NCAA tournament this season, losing to Michigan in the first round Friday. Previously, he had spent three seasons at Stephen F. Austin, with trips to the NCAA tournament all three years and two first-round wins. "Coaching basketball at the University of Illinois is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Underwood said in a statement. "The players, fans and administration at Oklahoma State have been absolutely incredible, and I want to thank them for the support they've given me and my family over the last year. However, during my time at Western Illinois, I always saw the Illinois coaching job as one of the truly best in the nation. I want to thank Josh Whitman for the opportunity to join the Fighting Illini family and look forward to working with him to build a championship program." Underwood was as an assistant coach at Western Illinois for 11 seasons and spent one season as the associate head coach at both Kansas State and South Carolina before landing at Stephen F. Austin. The 53-year-old has a 109-27 record as a head coach. He returned to Stillwater with the Cowboys on Friday night following the loss to the Wolverines, an Oklahoma State official told ESPN's Andy Katz. The official was stunned to learn via Twitter that Underwood was going to Illinois, saying there was no indication he was leaving Oklahoma State. "We are saddened and disappointed in Brad's decision to leave Oklahoma State after one year," Cowboys athletic director Mike Holder said in a statement. "We are trying to digest the news. "We wish Brad and his family well. In the meantime, we will consider the situation and move forward." Underwood will replace John Groce in Champaign. Groce was 95-75 in five seasons but made the NCAA tournament just once. Assistant coach Jamall Walker has served as interim head coach while the school searched for a successor. The Illini have reached the second round of the NIT and will face Boise State on Monday. Oklahoma State went through an up-and-down season in Stillwater. After starting 10-2, the Cowboys endured a six-game losing streak to open Big 12 play before turning things around with 10 wins in 11 games. But the season finished on a sour note, with two straight losses to finish the regular season plus losses in their first game of the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. The Cowboys were a top-10 team in scoring during the regular season, averaging 85.5 points per game. Oklahoma State's offensive efficiency was ranked No. 1 by Ken Pomeroy. Underwood finished second to Kansas' Bill Self in Big 12 Coach of the Year voting. Self, whose first Power 5 head-coaching job was at Illinois, described the news of Underwood's departure as a shock. "You see a lot of coaching changes across America, but very rarely do you see one after just one year," Self said. "Granted, Brad is a really good guy and did a great job. But from the outside looking in, it looked to me like OSU and Brad fit very, very well."Courtesy of: espn.com

South Carolina is adding some immediate help in its follow-up season to a Final Four run. Wesley Myers (6'2''-G-95), a graduate transfer from Maine, is joining the Gamecocks' program, according to FanRag Sports' Jon Rothstein. The 6-foot-2 guard gives Frank Martin's team an instant infusion of scoring as they look to replace SEC player of the year Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier. Myers 16.9 points per game last year on 43.7 percent shooting, including a 34.3 percent mark from 3-point ra... [read more]

South Carolina is adding some immediate help in its follow-up season to a Final Four run. Wesley Myers (6'2''-G-95), a graduate transfer from Maine, is joining the Gamecocks' program, according to FanRag Sports' Jon Rothstein. The 6-foot-2 guard gives Frank Martin's team an instant infusion of scoring as they look to replace SEC player of the year Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier. Myers 16.9 points per game last year on 43.7 percent shooting, including a 34.3 percent mark from 3-point range. He's the second grad-transfer Martin has picked up this offseason, joining Florida Atlantic's Frank Booker. The pair should help ease the transition from last year's success to a much less experienced team that returns just a pair of starters. Myers, though, doesn't arrive in Columbia without some notable history. Last year, after transferring to Maine from Niagara, was suspended after an altercation with a teammate, according to reports. He and teammate Marko Pirovic argued over locker room music, and the alleged ensuing altercation left Pirovic with a broken jaw, according to reports. Three other Maine players were suspended after telling a team athletic trainer that Pirovic had injured himself in a fall in the shower. Pirovic declined to press charges.Courtesy of: nbcsports.com

Top prospect Marvin Bagley III commits to Duke, to enroll for 2017-18 season - 2 days ago

POSTED BY:
EUROBASKET NEWS

follow us on

Marvin Bagley III(6'6''-F-99) III, who may just be the best basketball prospect in the world that is not in the NBA, announced on Monday night that he will be attending Duke and enrolling at the school for the fall semester. Bagley is the seventh member of Duke's 2017 recruiting class, joining top ten prospects Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter, another five-star recruit in Gary Trent Jr., four-star wings Alex O'Connell and Jordan Tucker, and three-star point guard Jordan Goldwire. The Ariz... [read more]

Marvin Bagley III (6'6''-F-99) III, who may just be the best basketball prospect in the world that is not in the NBA, announced on Monday night that he will be attending Duke and enrolling at the school for the fall semester. Bagley is the seventh member of Duke's 2017 recruiting class, joining top ten prospects Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter, another five-star recruit in Gary Trent Jr., four-star wings Alex O'Connell and Jordan Tucker, and three-star point guard Jordan Goldwire. The Arizona-native picked Duke over USC and UCLA in the end, but he also the likes of Kansas and Arizona also recruited him. Bagley has long been considered the best prospect in the Class of 2018 and one of the best prospects in all of high school. He's also already 18 years old, meaning that he is a year older than what you would consider a typical high school senior. Reclassifying, graduating early and enrolling in college means that the 6-foot-11 combo-forward is eligible to declare for the 2018 NBA Draft. And rest assured, that was the impetus for this decision. He's good enough that he'll likely end up somewhere on every Preseason All-American team that you see this fall, he'll join Michael Porter Jr. and Deandre Ayton as the odds-on favorites to be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and, at this point, it looks like Duke will once again enter the season as the preseason No. 1 team in the country.Courtesy of: nbcsports.com

Wisconsin got off to a winning start on its five-game trip to New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday, beating an NZ Breakers squad 85-75. The Badgers were tied 57-57 after three quarters but pulled away to win the first of their two games in New Zealand. Wisconsin, the alma mater of current Breakers shooting guard Kirk Penney, will next play a Breakers selection in Tauranga on Thursday before playing three games in Australia on the 12-day trip. Sophomore Brevin Pritzl (6'3''-G) led Wisconsi... [read more]

Wisconsin got off to a winning start on its five-game trip to New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday, beating an NZ Breakers squad 85-75. The Badgers were tied 57-57 after three quarters but pulled away to win the first of their two games in New Zealand. Wisconsin, the alma mater of current Breakers shooting guard Kirk Penney, will next play a Breakers selection in Tauranga on Thursday before playing three games in Australia on the 12-day trip. Sophomore Brevin Pritzl (6'3''-G) led Wisconsin with 27 points, while Ethan Happ (6'9''-F-96) added 17. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard used Brevin Pritzl, Happ, D'Mitrik Trice, Khalil Iverson (6'5''-G/F) and Alex Illikainen (6'9''-F) in a new-look starting formation. The team is building a new frontline around Happ following the departure of big men Nigel Hayes and Vitto Brown. The NCAA allows teams to make exhibition tours overseas every four years. Wisconsin's last overseas trip, to Canada in 2013 when it was also replacing much of its starting lineup, preceded the first of its back-to-back Final Four appearances. The Breakers have won the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) in four of the last seven years. Meanwhile, the Breakers will face the Cairns Taipans, Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers during the ANBL's Blitz preseason tournament from September 7-10 in Victoria. The Breakers will meet the Taipans and September 7 and Wildcats on September 9 at the Traralgon Basketball Centre in the Latrobe Valley, east of Melbourne, then the 36ers on September 10 in Whittlesea, north of Melbourne. "This will be an early hit out for us, with just over a week and a half together but while it might be a touch early for us in our preparation it is a good chance to bond together on the road as much as it is a chance to work on court," head coach Paul Henare said. The Breakers are close to confirming a preseason tour in New Zealand, with the announcement due in the next week.Courtesy of: stuff.co.nz

WARNING:
Do not copy, redistribute, publish or otherwise exploit information that you download from the site !
Do not encumber, license, modify, publish, sell, transfer or transmit, or in any way exploit, any of the
content of the site, nor will you attempt to do so.